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RNC chairman: Tough primary leads to strong nominee

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus expects that a contentious primary season for his party’s presidential hopefuls will lead to a strong nominee next November.

“For those people out there that think, you know, these tough primaries are bad for a particular party, it worked pretty well for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party back in ‘08,” Priebus said.

“I happen to believe in primaries, and rigorous debates in primaries.”

Priebus was responding to concerns that animosity between Republican candidates in Thursday night’s debate would hurt the eventual nominee in the general election. Priebus said he expects “shots to be fired” but that he will be behind whoever is nominated.